Welcome to Colleen’s Corner. This is a column meant for fun and some information About myself: I am a Freelance Photographer you often see me on the side of the road or in various places taking photos of different things animals, birds, places, people etc. l have lived in Lumby for over 8 years, you have seen my photos in the newspaper (Lumby Valley Times) and once in awhile in the Vernon Morning Star, and the Lumby Art Gallery. Photography is my passion. Disclaimer: The information on some of my photos that I write about a lot of times come from the Internet or books I research them, hopefully the facts are as close to the truth as I can come.
I love wall murals. I try to take as many pictures of them as I can. On our travels last year passing through Shonto Arizona in the Navajo Nation area we came across some beautiful murals, one was of Turquoise. They were all quite stunning. There was no one around or so I thought….
Tim parked the Minnie Winnie and I got out to take some shots of all the murals. As I was taking pictures all of a sudden I was surrounded by about 5 people wanting me to buy their Turquoise jewelry. It was nice looking jewelry. I wasn’t sure if it was real Turquoise or not, but I was not there to buy any at the time. The people would not take no for an answer, and would get closer to me, I felt a little bit nervous. Tim brought Minnie Winnie over to where I was. I got in and we drove off.
Turquoise is a very important gem in Arizona, ranking 1st for value in production, and it is one of the gemstones that is widely known. In the Native American culture Turquoise is a symbol for protection and spirituality. In the Navajo culture Turquoise is called the stone of the sky, joining the energy of the heavens and earth. It has been thought to have powers to heal, and to ward off evil spirits.
Wearing Turquoise is believed to help with your well being, helping with things like releasing emotions that are negative, and change the patterns in our lives that might hold us back, it can possibly help with anger, resentment, and jealousy feelings, promoting forgiveness and compassion instead.
Inside Turquoise is copper and other minerals which creates the beautiful colours of light blue to a forest green. The more copper that the Turquoise has the greener colour it will be, the more iron content in the Turquoise it will have a bluer tone to it.
Turquoise can be found in various parts of the world, but the Arizona Turquoise out-stands them all, as it is more rare there than anywhere else, only being in certain parts of this state.
With its very unique colour and the veins with different patterns running through it, the Arizona Turquoise makes it a popular stone to have.
The largest Turquoise from Arizona weighed over 150 pounds, it stays in the Smithsonian Institution.
By Colleen Fielding
